


Imaginary

by Squishymaru



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Orphanage, Angst, Bullying, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, sort of spoilers for v3 chapter 3, they're all eight years old here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:22:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29882448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squishymaru/pseuds/Squishymaru
Summary: Of course we believe you," Maki insisted. She honestly couldn't say that was actually the truth. To her the story always sounded too outlandish to be real, but she'd learned that an important part of friendship was believing in and trusting your friends.
Relationships: Harukawa Maki & Saihara Shuichi & Yumeno Himiko, Harukawa Maki & Yumeno Himiko
Kudos: 10





	Imaginary

**Author's Note:**

> It feels good to finally post something new after so long! I'm psyched to post my first danganronpa fic, I've been so obsessed with the series lately. I randomly had this sad au idea a little while ago and I'm really proud of how it turned out. Enjoy!

Maki lingered under the shade of the cherry blossom tree in the corner of the yard. The flowers had already withered weeks ago, but it was still the only large foliage in the orphanage yard, the only shield against the sun that grew increasingly warm.

For the most part, the other sounds of the yard were distant and blended together. But soon the peaceful atmosphere would be completely obliterated. 

"GIVE IT BACK!!!" A high-pitched scream that couldn't be missed resounded throughout the yard.

_ Ah, jeez. _ Maki recognized the voice in an instant, growing internally frustrated as she already knew what was about to happen.

Maki stormed over to the center of the yard where the commotion was coming from. She was met with a familiar sight; a short, distressed red-haired girl had been surrounded by three older boys, and was jumping up and down to try and grab a white sheet of paper the boys were holding out of her reach.

"Come on, shorty! Use your 'maaagic' to jump higher!" The boy holding the paper, who seemed to be the leader of the bunch, taunted the girl, while his lackeys spurred him on.

"You better give it back!" The girl cried out. By that point, she had started to shed tears.

"Or what? Is 'Tenko' gonna beat me up?" The leader laughed, the other two quickly joining in.

"No, but I will," Maki finally announced her presence, causing the four kids in front of her to whip around. Fear was painted on the boys' faces, and Maki heard a few mutters of "crap," and "I told you Maki would find out!"

Maki approached the leader and held out her hand. "Hand it over and get lost, or you'll be sorry."

The leader briefly glanced at both of his lackeys before roughly shoving the paper into Maki's hand and heading toward the orphanage building with a huff, the other two close behind.

The girl collapsed to her knees and sobbed, and Maki bent down to check on her. "Are you okay, Himiko?"

Himiko wiped her eyes, sniffling loudly. She was crying too hard to talk, but she managed to feebly nod her head.

Maki handed the piece of paper to Himiko. It had become slightly wrinkled from this incident and several others, but the contents of the paper were still as visible as ever. On one side of the sheet was a crude, childish drawing of two girls. One of them had long, greenish-brown hair, a large green pinwheel-shaped bow and a blue outfit. The other girl had white hair and dark skin, and was wearing a yellow outfit.

Himiko took the drawing and held it tight against her chest, as if she was trying to become one with it. Maki helped her stand up and led her inside.

__________

Inside, Maki and Himiko sat at one of the worn-down lunch tables with Shuichi, a fellow eight year old who Maki had also somehow managed to get kind of close to. Himiko had mostly calmed down, but still sniffed occasionally. 

"Why do the other kids always have to pick on me?" Himiko complained, dejectedly pushing around the rice on her plate with her chopsticks. 

"They're just a bunch of no-good bullies!" Shuichi remarked. He sat across from the girls, and had already finished most of his lunch before they came inside. "We believe that Angie and Tenko are real, right Maki?"

Before Himiko came to reside in the Hopeful Children's Orphanage, she had lived in a different orphanage. There, she claims that she had two best friends; a martial artist who hated males and practiced something called neo-aikido, named Tenko, and a visual artist who prayed to a god called Atua, named Angie. According to Himiko, the two died a few months before she transferred to a new orphanage. Himiko could never explain exactly how they died, whenever someone asked she always just said, "they died on a seesaw." The bizarre personalities and unbelievable cause of death made most people believe that the two were simply Himiko's imaginary friends, and people began to tease her for it.

"Of course we believe you," Maki insisted. She honestly couldn't say that was actually the truth. To her the story always sounded too outlandish to be real, but she'd learned that an important part of friendship was believing in and trusting your friends.

"Thanks guys," Himiko put her chopsticks down and stood up. "I'm going to go up to my bed, I want to be alone for a little bit…" Slouching forward, Himiko slowly trudged up the stairs.

Once she was out of earshot, Shuichi sighed. "I can't believe she got bullied  _ again _ ."

"It's alright, if it happens one more time, I'm prepared to end it once and for all." Maki glowered, her eyes filled with less-than-kind intent.

"Um, what does that mean?" Shuichi asked nervously. 

"Don't worry about it." 

Shuichi rested his cheek against his palm. "Do you think she'll ever let go of Tenko and Angie?"

"We may never find out for certain if they were real," Maki begins, "but that's not the important part. All we can do is support her no matter what."

Nodding, Shuichi smiled softly. "Yeah, I think you're right."

Maki gave a small smile in return, grateful for the hundredth time that she had found friends like these. 

"I'm going to go talk to Himiko." Maki stood up and walked upstairs to the room where the girls all slept. She found Himiko sitting on her bed, staring wistfully at the drawing as it lay on one of the small nightstands. Himiko had once told her that the drawing was something she made during an art lesson Angie had given her. The paper was crumpled and ripped in more than a few places, but every ounce of love that had been put into it was clear as day.

Maki sat down on the bed next to Himiko. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Himiko answered, still looking at the drawing.

"Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh," Himiko finally turned to look at Maki. "You know, I've been thinking...it probably doesn't matter if those mean old bullies will ever believe me.  _ I _ know that Angie and Tenko are real, and I'll never forget them for as long as I live." Himiko started to grin. "And besides! Now I have you and Shuichi, who love me just as much as they did!"

A genuine smile makes its way onto Maki's face. "I'm really glad to hear that," she says, and she means it with all her heart.

Himiko then jumped off the bed with a sudden burst of energy. "Why don't we go back downstairs, I'll show you and Shuichi a magic tri- I mean, a new spell!"

"Sure thing." Maki got up and followed Himiko back downstairs. As she walked, she thought that just maybe, things would turn out fine after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> I love content of dr survivors supporting each other :,)
> 
> As always I want to thank my friend morgan, who helped me edit this fic! 🥺
> 
> Thanks for reading, kudos and comments are appreciated!


End file.
